No U.S. tornado deaths in record 200 days

As of today, the United States has gone 200 days, or almost seven months, since the last tornado fatality, the longest continuous stretch that no one has died in a twister.

It’s the kind of weather record “we like to see,” Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist of Weather Underground said.

The previous record: 197 straight days, ending Feb 28, 1987.

The last U.S. tornado death was on June 24, 2012 in Venus, a small city on Florida’s west coast. The twister was spawned out of Tropical Storm Debby.

All told, 68 people died in tornadoes in 2012, the 25th highest death toll since 1950.

“After a horrific 2011 that saw 553 Americans die in tornadoes – the second highest total since 1950 –the 2012 tornado season was not far from average for deaths, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center,” Masters said.

The average yearly toll between from 1950 to 2011 was 91 deaths, he said.

Interestingly, the total number of tornadoes in 2012 was 936, the first time since 2002 that less than 1,000 twisters were recorded.

“The reason for the low tornado total in 2012 was the massive drought that gripped much of Tornado Alley," Masters said, referring to the Great Plains area between South Dakota and Texas. "It's tough to get tornadoes when you're experiencing near-record drought conditions and very few thunderstorms.”